Comment

The markets witnessed a lower turnover last week, along expected lines, as the festive season curtailed trader participation.

The headline indices ended on a buoyant note as optimism was in the air.

This could be seen from the cold numbers as the higher beta stocks and lower RSC stocks — both gained from the upthrust.

The market internals were positive as the BSE and the NSE combined advance-decline ratio for the week stood at7662 : 4775.

The capitalisation of the same on a commensurate basis stood at Rs 2,989 crore: Rs 420,474 crore. The NSE gained Rs 43,618 crore in market capitalisation on a week-on-week basis.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in a truncated week and that saw the rupee ending the week higher at 46.61 per dollar compared with theweek before last’s 46.76 levels.

The US markets ended the week lower than the previous week as profit sales eroded early gains.

The UK FTSE was a relative outperformer, having gained almost 0.8 % over the previous week.

In the near term, watch the 10580 level on the Dow Jones and the 2295 level on the Nasdaq Composite for signs of resistance as these are the inflection points of profit-taking for short-term players.

The domestic markets witnessed a breakout from a congestion pattern as the 5,200 hurdle on the Nifty was finally cleared.

What is required is follow-up buying to keep the indices buoyant from these levels.

Many traders are anticipating announcements of FII allocations to the country and may sit on the fence till these are announced.

Traded volumes may take time in picking up, especially if the overseas cues are insipid. The weekly range advocated last week between the 5350 / 5020 has held as Nifty gyrated between these thresholds.

The week is likely to witness a range of 5320 on advances and 5060 on declines.

The bullish pivot for the week will be at the 5200 and the bearish pivot at the 5175 levels.

Traders should watch these pivot levels keenly as the short term trend determination will be dependent on these levels.